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Employee Shares A Meme And Gets Fired Over It, So He Shares The Text Exchange With The Boss

Do you have your bosses on social media? If so, you might want to reconsider after reading Cody Hidalgo’s unfortunate poop-meme story. It started on a Sunday. Cody was off work, minding his own business when he decided to post a mildly amusing and seemingly innocent meme onto his Facebook page.

Now, we don’t know the full context or background to this story – perhaps Cody has been a truly awful employee? Maybe Andy, the boss, has put up with Cody’s slacking and ill-discipline for months now, and was itching for an excuse to pull the trigger?

Or it could be that Andy is just a big meanie who has no sense of humor and is on a massive power trip.

Either way, firing somebody for posting a meme in their free time and on their personal social media seems a little…harsh. Don’t you think?

He continued to plead his innocence but his arguments fell on deaf ears. It does seem like this was the final straw in a sorry saga of workplace disappointment – Cody was clearly not a valued team member.

Memes are a powerful form of communication these days, and you don’t want to get on a meme maker’s bad side! People quickly found the company in question and began to stand up for Cody in the way they know best – leaving hilariously withering ‘reviews.’

What do you think? Was Cody horribly mistreated here, or do you think there might be more to this story? Michigan is a state that has “at-will” employment, which means that both the employer and employee are free to terminate the employment at any given time, and for any legitimate purpose, unless bound by a legal contract. What are the conditions in your state/country? Let us know in the comments below!

Bored Panda has contacted both Mr. Hidalgo and Roman Stone Works for comment.

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James is a Bored Panda reporter who graduated with a BA in Peace And Conflict Studies and an MA in African Affairs. Before Bored Panda, he was an English teacher and also travelled a lot, doing odd jobs from beer-slinging to brickie's labourer and freelance journalism along the way. James loves covering stories about social and environmental issues and prefers to highlight the positive things that unite us, rather than petty internet squabbles about fictional characters. James is the grumpy, contradictory one who thinks that Bored Panda, due to its large audience, has a social responsibility to inspire and inform its readers with interesting issues and entertaining, well-researched stories...

Wow. Just wow. His employer's behaviour is completely unprofessional and unacceptable. This guy needs to report him and have a tribunal. The comment about his dead kid is absolutely grotesque. He's the one who needs to be fired.

Yes, at will states can terminate employment for almost anything (not discrimination though). However, ANY employer in ANY state who makes comments such as this would be held accountable. He may never get his job back since he was terminated over a meme, BUT he can get the company/owner punished/fined for such a despicable insult that had no bearing on his performance, and was made out of anger.

A tribunal in the UK can be either way. You can take a company to court for wrongful dismissal. You can't be sacked willy nilly. The boss would also be done under discriminating behaviour and hauled over the coals for the dead child comment. God knows why you don't have employee rights that's terrible!

Wow. Just wow. His employer's behaviour is completely unprofessional and unacceptable. This guy needs to report him and have a tribunal. The comment about his dead kid is absolutely grotesque. He's the one who needs to be fired.

Yes, at will states can terminate employment for almost anything (not discrimination though). However, ANY employer in ANY state who makes comments such as this would be held accountable. He may never get his job back since he was terminated over a meme, BUT he can get the company/owner punished/fined for such a despicable insult that had no bearing on his performance, and was made out of anger.

A tribunal in the UK can be either way. You can take a company to court for wrongful dismissal. You can't be sacked willy nilly. The boss would also be done under discriminating behaviour and hauled over the coals for the dead child comment. God knows why you don't have employee rights that's terrible!